


The King In Yellow

by Drafter



Series: HxH Whump Stories [8]
Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Dark, Darkfic, Gen, Hallucinations, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Sleep Deprivation, Suicide Notes, Supernatural Elements, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:54:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27170696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drafter/pseuds/Drafter
Summary: Kurapika tries to cure his insomnia with a book, but it all goes down from there. Succesion War arc.
Series: HxH Whump Stories [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1966612
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	The King In Yellow

**Author's Note:**

> Whumptober prompt #23: Sleep Deprivation
> 
> Ok, this is sort of a crazy ride (not as crazy as I thought it would be, but crazy nonetheless). I was inspired by The King In Yellow, a selection of short stories by author Robert W. Chambers.

I was more than used to restless nights. The quest for my clan’s eyes had been a source of insomnia for years, and by now, both my mind and body were adapted to the minimum amount of sleep I granted myself. Still, nothing had beaten the record I set while on the Black Whale ship.

The book was waiting for me on my nightstand. I had never seen it before, nor did it have a note or explanation about where it came from. I assumed it was from Bill. He had shared his concerns about the dark circles forming beneath my eyes, frowned every time I got another cup of coffee. Probably thought a book would ease my mind into a state of sleepiness if I read it before bed.

I rolled my eyes at first, as I was in no mood for a book of any kind. But when the clock struck 3am, and I still was wide awake in my bunk bed, I sat up annoyed, my hands running through my sweaty hair. The book, with its leather-golden cover and its leather-golden spine, stared right back at me. “The King In Yellow,” said the title. And with nothing else to do, I picked it up and opened its pages.

That was my first mistake.

(…)

The next day, the skin around my eyes was darker and puffier. I noticed that when I first looked in the mirror that morning, the same way I noticed the grimaces on people’s faces when they passed by me. I meant to inquiry Bill about the book, but being a bodyguard on the ship gave me very little free time to chat. Besides, tonight was the night of the next banquet, and things were already tense as they could be with all the arrangements that needed to take place. I won’t deny that The King In Yellow was at the back of my mind, almost like he was knocking to let himself in, trying to sneak past my deepest thoughts and into my brain. I brushed him aside, nervously every time.

The aura I felt that morning was more pronounced than the wave from the day before. Longer too, a tsunami washing the shores of my pores as I felt it coming. That was alarming, especially with the imminence of a banquet. I decided to track it down before it was too late and started my pursuit among the decks, scanning the people I came across, following the flow that was more likely dragging me down.

That hunt brought me down to the 4th tier, well below my assigned area. But at that point, I wouldn’t let that be an issue. My position as bodyguard to a Royal Family member gave me clearance to navigate between decks without any further explanation, and I intended to use that in my favour. But as I reached the centre of the deck, I sensed the aura diminishing, receding to the point of a faint tingling. I halted in frustration, but before I let that overcome me, I saw him.

My nemesis. Chrollo Lucifer, leader of the Phantom Troupe, the head of the Spiders, was a few feet ahead of me, blending with the other passengers in the crowd. I saw him, and for the love of my late clan, I know he saw me too. We exchanged looks, even if just for an instant, but I froze, and that made me a second too late. As for Chrollo was not there anymore; even when I pushed people aside, entered the rooms I was not intended to enter and shouted demanding for guests to clear the hall, I could not see his face once again.

Someone tried to stop me — and I know by now how mad I must have been to the eyes of the clueless passengers — grabbing me by the arm. It was a guard, or at least someone dressed as one, as the dark ink of a tattoo was crawling from under his sleeve. It crawled indeed, the legs of a spider, strutting down his arm and into his hand, like a live animal, but a flat drawing under his skin. I yelled at the fake guard, shoving my credentials up his face and forcing him to show me his palm when I pointed my gun at him. He raised his hands, surrendering, but I pulled his arm and lifted his sleeve. There was the spider again, creeping on his pulse, moving freely beneath the tissues of his limb.

I let go with a scream, and Bill had to come for me and take my gun away before one of my shots actually hit someone.

(…)

“He’s here,” I told Bill.

“Who’s here?”

Bill had to take me back to my room, pay off the guards and settle the situation without it leaking to the upper decks. Queen Oito merely glanced at me when I was carried back to her quarters. I wanted to assure her everything was fine, but even that Bill took care of.

“Chrollo. He’s here for me.”

Bill handed me a glass of water, but I couldn’t drink it. My hands were too shaky.

“You need to calm down. We have a banquet in a few hours. Whatever else you have to deal with can wait.”

I knew he was right. I came to this ship with a very clear objective in mind, and even if I caught up with the intricate succession war, I had to keep my head above water or else it would all be for nothing.

I thanked him and asked to be left alone. As I placed the glass on my night table, the golden book flickered by the low light. 

(…)

By the time of the banquet, I had been awake for 72 hours straight — a few hours too many, even for me. The night outside the ship was dark, not even the moon in sight.

_Strange is the night where black stars rise_

I met Senritsu at the hall leading to the ballroom, and she gave me one of her worried stares I hated so much. I knew I looked distraught. And I knew I couldn’t hide that from her.

“You haven’t been sleeping again,” she said.

“I’m fine.”

“You need to stay sound.”

“I know,” I murmured. “I’m trying to.”

But by the corner of my eye I could see the apprehension still in her face as we walked side by side.

“I’m fine,” I repeated. Even I knew it was a lie.

(…)

The banquet was where it all went down.

I knew I shouldn’t be thinking about this, but I had a tiny hope of spotting Chrollo again. I tried not to think much about it because every time I did, Chrollo and the King in Yellow would somehow merge in my mind, a hideous figure of black and gold. A spider carrying a crown.

I kept my head away from those thoughts, making my rounds around the ballroom. Food was being served, as well as drinks and cocktails, a lively song playing. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that was something odd about all that.

_Songs that the Hyades shall sing_

Everywhere I looked, I felt a pair of eyes on me. Maybe someone heard about what went down on the fourth deck. I didn’t think the Royal Family would care about the commoners below them, but I could be wrong. Or they could use the incident to remove me from my duties and leave Queen Oito exposed to an attack. That was more like it. 

I decided I needed to speak with the Queen, so I threaded my way to her table. Made my best to not draw any attention to myself. I could now see her with Wobble in her arms — she wouldn’t dare leave her child in a night like this. But when I approached, her hair was blue.

“Neon?” I said with a gasp.

She looked at me, confused.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, crouching to be at her level. Her blue eyes stared at mine with surprise.

“What do you mean what I’m doing here?”

“You have to leave!”

I grabbed her slim arms, trying to pull her up from the chair, but Wobble started crying. She looked distressed. Gazed at me, startled, and left, rushing to somewhere out of my sight.

“What is happening?” Senritsu was now by my side. I had a feeling she never left it since we came to the ballroom.

“Neon was here.”

“Are you sure?”

I was, of course I was. But there was her look again, concerning, almost maternal.

I left Senritsu standing there, not wanting to explain. Rushed between the tables, trying to find Neon, ignoring the “ohs!” and “heys!” from the people I bumped on the way. I saw her leaving by the double doors, so I made my way to the end of the room. And when I pushed open the doors, instead of the ample hall, I saw the ballroom again, the same people, the same tables, the same song playing in the background.

I stared at the room, baffled. Did I just come in?

“Please sit.”

It was Bill now, taking my shoulder and bringing me down to a chair. I sat. I was too overwhelmed to control my legs, so they just acceded.

“Have a drink,” Bill offered, taking a glass of wine from one of the waiters that were strolling nearby.

“No, I don’t drink. Not during service,” I replied.

“You need to calm down, Kurapika.”

He placed the glass on my hands, despite my attempts to refuse it. Maybe I did need a drink. I just didn’t want one.

“I’m fine,” I said for what it seemed the tenth time that night. By now, I was trying to convince me more than anyone else.

“You should go back to your room. I can take care of the Queen tonight.”

I shook my head, closing my eyes. The thoughts on my head were running so freely I couldn’t catch them. The King in Yellow was coming, the Leader of the Spiders was coming. Were we in Carcosa yet?

_Songs that the Hyades shall sing,_   
_Where flap the tatters of the King,_   
_Must die unheard in_   
_Dim Carcosa._

“Why did you give me that book?”

Bill just stared at me as if I was crazy. Or something worse.

“What book?”

“The King In Yellow, you left on my nightstand yesterday.”

“I didn’t-”

I screamed, not letting him finish. The glass of wine fell from my hands, breaking into tiny pieces and spilling the dark, crimson liquid all over the floor. I had tasted it, but it wasn’t wine. It was blood. Thick, metallic, slimy.

Other guards came for me, but I was quick in drawing my gun. I heard shots, but didn’t remember firing any. My fingers were itching, my tongue tickling, still tasting the blood that I tried to spit. Scream leaving my throat as fast as bullets. I saw Senritsu, shocked, I saw Bill, I saw Neon, I saw Chrollo, I saw the King In Yellow, and then I saw nothing.

(…)

As I write these words, I know people still think I'm insane. It's been ten days since I was brought to this cell, with nothing but spiders to keep me company.

I still regret reading that damned cursed book, and by now, I lost count of how many hours I went without sleeping since I woke in this jail. I just can't afford to close my eyes and watch it all over again.

At this point, one can only wish to be forgiven, as I know I disappointed the ones that were counting on me. But I fail to see a way out now. I looked future in the face, and all I saw was blackness.

If you find this letter, please know that all the events written here are true.

No one can flee the King In Yellow.

Goodbye.

**Author's Note:**

> Along the shore the cloud waves break,  
> The twin suns sink behind the lake,  
> The shadows lengthen  
> In Carcosa.
> 
> Strange is the night where black stars rise,  
> And strange moons circle through the skies,  
> But stranger still is  
> Lost Carcosa.
> 
> Songs that the Hyades shall sing,  
> Where flap the tatters of the King,  
> Must die unheard in  
> Dim Carcosa.
> 
> Song of my soul, my voice is dead,  
> Die thou, unsung, as tears unshed  
> Shall dry and die in  
> Lost Carcosa.


End file.
